MBB: Northwest Conference

[(509)Rat]

It'll be a lot tougher to get you a seat for a game in the Fieldhouse, at least compared to a game at Linfield....or so I hear 

[Keandre]

(509)Rat, looks like you were wrong, again. UPS went 3-1, not 2-2 like you thought. They got a home playoff game, not one in Eastern Washington, like you said. What are your thoughts now? Let me guess, you will show all your love for Eastern Washington teams?

[(509)Rat]

I have no problem being wrong or admitting I was. Although, 3 out of 4 ain't bad 

I quickly went through the schedules and noticed PLU and LC were swept by Whit and split with UPS, Whitm, and GF...do they just keep going and I didn't look far enough, did I miss something, or how did LC get the 4 seed? I don't know if I've ever seen a tie-breaker go this far?

LC really snuck in the back door! I had them written off a month ago (yeah, Keandre, wrong again!). I really didn't see the GF collapse coming. The reward being a trip to Spokane. LC is athletic and talented enough to beat the Pirates, but Whitworth is has been playing it's best basketball as of late and the fieldhouse will be hostile. I really like the UPS v Whitman matchup...Logger fans better hope Bridgeland doesn't outcoach Lunt 

[(509)Rat]

Figured it out. Must have been looking at the wrong schedule while I was flipping between pages. PLU was swept by Whitman and LC split

[A Buc Forever]

Congrats to Felix on a great senior night. Would love to see WW win the league tourney and host the first AND second weekend. They got robbed in Wooster. 

Playball, good luck in spring ball.  Let us know where you end up playing.  It would be great to catch a game.

[playball]

Been a while since Ive checked the board.   How about George Fox getting killed!!! by Linfield?! Love it.  Rough season for the Cats, hopefully Batuik and the younger guys work hard this off season to win some games next season. 

I know its a little early, but All Conference teams?  Time to start thinking about who your top 10-15 are!

[(509)Rat]

My Coach of the Year:
Logie - Whitworth

My MVP pick:
Friedt - Whitworth
Only other player that could be here IMO is D. Michaels. But Felix was more consistent from day 1 until now. He was clearly the best at his position in the conference and I don't feel like it was close.

My first team:

Friedt - Whitworth
Michaels - Whitman
Z Anderson - Linfield
Lasisi - Whitworth
Conti - PLU

The first 3 off my list would have been Mounts, Mike Taylor (GF) and Gebbers. Basically those were the guys who were a tossup for me when comparing them to the guys on the first team. Before Keandre s**ts a brick, Gittens is the next best true post, behind Friedt, but that just makes him the best 2nd teamer. I gave Lasisi the nod over Gebbers and Taylor just because he filled the stat box better and defensively I feel like he did a better job. I also punished M Taylor because of GF's collapse. I could only justify 1 guy from a 3-4 win team and so Anderson got the nod over Mounts.

[A Buc Forever]

I don't follow the other teams besides WW so I only know how the players played against the Bucs. Rat's list looks reasonable from what I saw, but I don't like all-star teams because I think it is hard to compare players like Conti and Gebbers. One is clearly the best player on an inferior team, but is his performance better than Gebbers who led his team to 15-1?  I'll take the 15-1. 

[Keandre]

I would put Hollins above idris. Teams play whitworth to stop Gebbers and Felix, not idris.

[(509)Rat]

A Buc,

I don't mind all-star teams because they generally reward guys who deserve it and there are always a few who never had team success in college. I have no problem with them getting their moment in the sun. As for Gebbers and Conti; You are right about Conti being on an inferior team, which probably explains his higher ppg. But, that does NOT explain the fact that he led the league in total assists, a/TO ratio, and Steals...In fact, being on a lesser team, you would expect the assist and a/TO ratio to be worse than Gebbers. PLU wasn't terrible, they took Whitworth to OT once and to the last second another time. But you put Gebbers on that team and they probably aren't any better. So saying that Conti doesn't deserve a spot because he wasn't 15-1 is really poor reasoning.

Keandre,
That's the point of this exercise. Make your own "all-conference" team...and put Hollins on it. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, I don't think you've ever made a prediction or shared an opinion on this site. Usually you just sit and wait until someone else is wrong, and then point it out. Grow a pair, make a bold pick or two...

[Keandre]

Got a pair. My all conference team is:
Felix
David Michaels
James Hollins
Gebbers
Michael Taylor

2nd team
Gittens
Taylor Mounts
Anderson from Linfield
Conti
Kaleb Shelton

Honorable Mention
Colin Wester
Cameron Schilling
Ross Erickson
PJ Taylor
Sanchez from Fox

[Keandre]

By the way Rat, I'm a lawyer, it's my job to point out when someone is wrong lol

[(509)Rat]

Got a pair. My all conference team is:
Felix
David Michaels
James Hollins
Gebbers
Michael Taylor

2nd team
Gittens
Taylor Mounts
Anderson from Linfield
Conti
Kaleb Shelton

Honorable Mention
Colin Wester
Cameron Schilling
Ross Erickson
PJ Taylor
Sanchez from Fox

+K for posting...and consider yourself lucky, in medicine we aren't allowed to tell patients they are wrong... self-diagnosis via wikipedia is my personal favorite

[playball]

1st Team

C- Felix-The anchor.
PF- Michaels- Video game-like stats overall and ridiculous in conference.
SF- Anderson- Lots of points, good rebounding, could start on any team in the conference.
SG- Lasisi- A do it all type guy for WW.  A BIG transfer/piece of the puzzle up there.
PG- Conti- I like Gebbers too, but if I had to pick one I would go with Conti.  Crafty PG who facilitates well with a very high A/TO ratio

2nd Team

C- Gittens-Defensive minded actual post guy. Not many in the conference this year. Good defensive player, and in any other system he would be getting 33+ mpg. Per minute averages are very good.
PF-Mounts- Not GREAT averages like I thought he might have this year, but then again they didnt have the assist monster Kunke there either. However, good numbers overall.  17 and 8, good for 2nd team.
SF-Shelton- Another guy who I thought was going to have a huge year and didn't quite.  With that said, very good offensive rebounder and shot over 50% in conference.
SG- Mike Taylor/James Hollins.  Both of these guys deserve a spot on the all conference team.  Taylor was fun to watch, very entertaining and could do it all.  Hollins scored and got rebounds at a high rate for a guard.  Both didnt shoot very high percentages, but both played huge roles on their teams.  Hollins is up here as the LC rep.
PG- Gebbers-VERY good point guard but is tough for me to put on 1st team since he already has two teammates up there.  Very good shooter and a defensive stalwart.  Good stats and would be 1st team any other year, but Conti was just a LITTLE better

Honorable Mention
Schilling- if his team made playoffs which they probably shouldve, he makes second team.  Great year from him and he surprised me with his improved 3 pt shooting ability.
Batuik-Good player, bad team.  Hardworker, will be a force for the next 3 years.
Wester- Bad team again.  Shot quite a few threes, which surprises me a little bit.  Very athletic and can get to the rim when he wants.  Good year nonetheless.

Things that surprised me from this year
Why doesn't Dart from Willamette get the ball more.  Always a high % guy.  They need a post game, there he was and only 5 shots a game.  Hopefully he will be more of a featured player in Ione's system.

And obviously as stated before, David Michaels getting after it this year. Wow!

[A Buc Forever]

A Buc,

I don't mind all-star teams because they generally reward guys who deserve it and there are always a few who never had team success in college. I have no problem with them getting their moment in the sun. As for Gebbers and Conti; You are right about Conti being on an inferior team, which probably explains his higher ppg. But, that does NOT explain the fact that he led the league in total assists, a/TO ratio, and Steals...In fact, being on a lesser team, you would expect the assist and a/TO ratio to be worse than Gebbers. PLU wasn't terrible, they took Whitworth to OT once and to the last second another time. But you put Gebbers on that team and they probably aren't any better. So saying that Conti doesn't deserve a spot because he wasn't 15-1 is really poor reasoning.

Rat,

Not poor reasoning at all to suggest that 15-1 is more important than a difference in scoring average of 0.1 or assists difference of 1 a game, etc. That stats difference between the two players is very marginal and IMHO winning supersedes all else.  The question is whether a player makes a difference in the Win/Loss column. That is a hard question to answer in most cases.  However, when two players have almost identical stats (I'm talking clinically significant difference vs statistically significant difference--we speak the same language so you know what I mean) and one team is 9-6 and the other is 15-1 then I'd give the edge to the point guard on the 15-1 team.

The other issue I have with all-star teams is how offense is valued over defense to such great degree.  The fact that Clay Gebbers was never even given honorable mention in his career at Whitworth demonstrates that point.

The other example that shows the difference between a 15-1 team and teams at the lower end of the league is playball's assertion that Zach Anderson would start on any team in the conference. Not sure that is true. Who would he start over on WW. Not Gebbers or Felix--not the right positions.  I'll take Lasisi over him any day--if Anderson had his athletic ability he'd be the starting QB for the Beavers and would not be playing basketball at Linfield.  When Larkin and Loofburrow weren't healthy he'd have started, but Loofburrow has height, weight, shooting, etc., all over Anderson.  With that offensive firepower you need the best defender on the team at that 5th spot. Had he played for WW would Anderson have beaten out Larkin for that last starting spot?  Not so sure. So a first team all league pick from a 3-13 team might not have started on the 15-1 team.  So Rat, that's why 15-1 matters and all-league teams are questionable.

After all that, I'll go with playbill's pick and give Conti the first team all-league position.  However, with the loss of Felix, Loofburrow, and Lasisi, if WW goes 15-1 next year, Gebbers is unquestionably the POTY next year (unless I can get Jeremy Lin's brother to transfer to WW).